Harold was out the door of his office at exactly five o’clock. “Night, Walter,” he called hastily over his shoulder and hardly heard his assistant’s reply. He needed to get home and speak with Anna. The words were a mess in his head, but none of that mattered. He had to see her, hold her again, kiss her, and pray that somehow, everything would flow out of him. His cell dinged with another voicemail, most likely from his mother, but he ignored it. He had no doubt in his mind Bailey had called to inform Prentice of her son’s actions and how he would ruin everything the Jenson family had spent the last few decades building.

He would deal with her and her yelling later. The only agenda he cared about was Anna. He sped home, threw open the front door, and called out for her.

“She’s not here,” Jenny’s reply came from the living room.

“What do you mean? Where is she?”

“Well, don’t you look a right mess,” she commented. “You look even worse than you did this morning. Care to share with the class?”

“Jenny, where is Anna?” he demanded, tossing his briefcase into the empty chair.

Jenny closed the book she was reading and tossed it on the other end of the couch. “Where do you think that woman is? You know you can’t keep her away from the bar for long.”

“The Crawler.” He whirled around, ready to charge out the door when Jenny called him back. “What?”

“You’re going after her, right?”

The smile that spread across his face reflected on the face of his sister. “What do you think?”

“Thank God,” he heard her say as he ran back into the cold. He floored it back through the city and cursed when it took him too long to find a damn place to park. A car pulled away from the curb out front, and he whipped his into it. The gusting wind blew past his face, but he hardly felt the chill or the snowflakes as they melted against his cheeks. He ran into the bar, having a brief moment of déjà vu, but instead of Missy behind the bar staring at him as if he’d lost it, Anna was there. She cursed when the beer she was pouring overflowed and she had to start over. “We need to talk—now.”

“What about?” she asked, turning her back to him.

“Us,” he replied without hesitation for once. “I’ll wait here all night if I have to, but you and I have unfinished business.”

A few of the regulars he recognized at the bar glanced from him to Anna, waiting for her reply. She blinked furiously and slammed the beer on the counter in front of Aiden. “And whose fault is that?”

“Mine, and I know it.”

“Do you? Are you sure? You see, we’ve had this conversation before, Harry, and it always ends the same way.” She slapped the bar towel over her shoulder and rested her hands against the counter. “What’s different this time, huh?”

The guys at the bar swiveled around to stare blatantly at him.

“Can we do this somewhere else?” he pleaded.

“No, we are going to do it right here. You said we needed to talk, so talk,” she demanded. “What does the great Harry Jenson III have to say to me?” The guys at the bar still stared at him intently, amused grins on their faces.

He sucked in a deep breath, his hands shaking, and tried to come up with a coherent way to say what he wanted, but when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Only sputtering and fumbling. She nodded, nibbling her bottom lip as pain flooded her eyes. She walked towards the back room, and suddenly, a fire roared to life inside Harold.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Anna Crawley,” he bellowed. She stopped dead in her tracks but refused to turn around. “You and I are not finished here. We’ll never be finished because you know as well as I do that we’re meant to be together. We were meant to stay together,” he ranted. “I’ll admit it was my fault you left, but if you walk away now, it’ll be on you.”

“What did you just say to me?” she snapped, spinning around to glare at him.

“You heard me. We’re having this out right now.”

She marched up to him and shoved him hard. “You know what I want to hear, Harry, so unless you’re going to tell me, unless you finally let go, then get out of my bar.”

He licked his lips, his hands clammy and his stomach twisting. She waited, tapping her toe loudly and crossing her arms. The muscles strained in his neck as he blurted the words out loud. “You scare the shit out me, do you know that?”

The bar fell silent, all except for Anna’s gasp of surprise. “What?”

He hung his head, rubbing his face hard as he glanced back up at her. “You scare me. You scared me the first time we went out on a date and you had me laughing hysterically for the first time in years,” he confessed. “You scare me because of all those nights we stayed up late talking about parts of my life no one else gets to see. When I’m with you, I’m not Harold Jenson III. I’m Harry, just Harry, and God, Anna, I miss being just Harry with you.”

The regulars shifted their gazes to Anna and she waved them off, but they didn’t look away. “Well, keep going then,” she urged.

Harold smiled, his body relaxing as it used to when he was around her. “You reminded me of someone I thought I lost a long time ago,” he said, closing the distance between them. “I was scared to let him out again, scared of what everyone else would think of him, of me.”

“And now?” she asked on a breath.

He cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch, her eyes slipping closed for a moment as his thumb brushed over her bottom lip, lips he desired to kiss from now until the end of his days. “Now I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks but you.”

His lips captured hers in a heated kiss as they clung to each other in the middle of the bar. He hugged her to him as her arms wrapped around his neck, drawing him down even more so the kiss deepened. She raked her nails along his arms as whistles sounded around them, and Anna tore her mouth away, her eyes hazy with desire.

“Missy,” she said when she spotted her other bartender. “You have the bar?”

“Yeah, I have the bar,” she replied with a confused laugh.

Harold started to speak, but she covered his mouth with her hand, grabbed his in her free one, and dragged him out of the bar room towards the back. She shoved him into the store room, slammed the door, and locked it securely. Their lips were back together a second later. Harold tugged at the small apron tied around her waist and threw it to the floor as she undid his shirt, tearing at the buttons in her haste to reach his chest. All those times he feared telling her the truth about how he felt for her seemed so ridiculous now. He didn’t have control his emotions for fear of what she would think. If anything, he felt closer to Anna, and his hunger for this woman to be with him, to be buried within her, overwhelmed him until he almost couldn’t breathe.

His shirt parted and her palms rested on his chest. He growled as he ravaged her mouth, their tongues moving and twisting in a feverish dance as she raked her nails down his pecs to his abs. She traced his muscles, and his body reacted without fail. The hair on his arms stood up as she nipped and sucked hard on his bottom lip, and he struggled to shove her tank up far enough so he could reach those delicious mounds of soft flesh. He shoved the cups of her bra aside and kneaded her breasts, drawing a moan from her lips as she pushed her chest into his palms. Her hardened nipples teased him, and he removed his lips from hers to suck one of those hard points into his mouth. He pressed her up against the closest thing he could find, the long workbench-sized table she kept in the storeroom, and ravished her breasts. He ground his swollen shaft into her as she rubbed him, and the fire within him grew into a blazing inferno.

He lifted her shirt off over her head and undid the bra with ease. Clothes were in the way, far too many clothes. With each touch, her chest heaved with ragged breathing and he wanted to hear more. She fumbled at his belt, but he shoved her hands away, going for hers instead.

“Harry,” she whispered when he managed to undo her jeans, his mouth keeping hers busy as he kissed her, each dart of his tongue a preview of what would soon follow. He wanted her drunk on their love as she should have been so many months ago if he hadn’t been a jackass.

Her jeans loose, he shoved them down and palmed her hot sex, her swollen lips spreading at his touch. He groaned to feel her so wet and wanting. She shifted her hips, pressing herself into his hand. Her slick folds made it all too easy for his fingers to slip inside her sheath, stretching and teasing her as he mimicked the motion with his tongue in her mouth. He stroked her at both ends as she quivered before him. He pinched and tugged her clit, eliciting a sharp cry of lust that only fueled him on more. His hand moved faster, spreading her even wider with his knee. Right when she was on the edge, her inner muscles clenching to hold him within her depths, he drew back. He cursed at his belt as she laughed, the husky sound washing over him as she helped him free himself from the confines of his slacks.

The moment her hands closed around his throbbing cock, he was lost in the passion of the moment he’d waited too damn long to have with his Anna. She squeezed him, pumping her hands down his length as he struggled for control. She licked his lips and sucked hard on his tongue and Harold was gone. He lifted her, setting her on the edge of the table, and wedged himself between her smooth thighs. He ran his hands down them, massaging as he went and spread her legs even wider. He pressed his tip against her, and she bit her bottom lip, wiggling her hips closer as he rocked back and guided himself closer again. Her heels dug into his ass as she moved him up against her, and as he kissed her hard, he thrust home, filling her in one try. They gasped and shuddered as one being as she adjusted to his size, lifting her hips and scooting closer to the edge of the table.

He worried at first she wasn’t as ready as he thought, but she urged him forward with her heels. He moved, his lustful dreams of having Anna coming true right before his eyes. Every buck of his hips brought them closer together in that moment of insane desire, a hunger finally having its chance to be fulfilled.

Harold’s hand reached between their bodies as his other grabbed her hip. He massaged her bud fiercely, keeping in time with his movements as he made love to the woman he nearly lost.

“Harry,” she gasped, and he sensed her close to the edge of oblivion.

He pounded harder, each drive of his hips and every drag out sending a soul-shattering jolt of pleasure through his body. He swelled even more, and as she cried out, he captured her mouth, taking the sound as he buried himself one final time in her sheath. He clutched her close as they rode the waves of the orgasm together, each hit sending another trembling through her limbs and into his until finally, it ended. Gasping, he withdrew, and they rested back against the table.

“Well,” he gasped, glancing around the storeroom and at their pile of clothes on the floor, “this was not where I expected this to happen the first time.”

“Oh no?” she teased, running her fingers through his hair, panting to catch her breath. “What did you have in mind for round two?” She grinned wickedly at him as her hand snaked between their bodies, searching for his cock. Her fingers grazed him, and he kissed her hotly as his shaft twitched, desperate to find a way into her again.

“Care to find out?” he asked.

“I think I have some time,” she murmured and sat up to kiss him again.

He helped her down from the table, both giggling with mirth as they gathered their clothes and dressed hurriedly. They were still a mess, but Harold wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t care what anyone else thought anymore. He would finally be with Anna and no one would come between them.

As they exited the storeroom and passed into the bar, the regulars who were closest to the door, along with Missy and Pat, clapped and cheered. Anna’s cheeks burned a vibrant red, clashing with her hair, and she tossed Missy a set of keys.

“All yours tonight,” she told the bartender.

“Oh, I hope so. Go get him, girlie.”

Anna fought a smile but gave up as Harold took her hand and they left The Crawler behind, shooed out the door by all her regulars. One of them reached out and grabbed Harold’s arm, but he motioned for Anna to go ahead to the car.

“You better not hurt her again,” Aiden told him sternly. “That young lady is like our daughter, too, and we look out for Winston’s kid. You understand me?”

“I do, trust me, this time I really do. I’m not going to lose her again.”

Aiden nodded firmly and patted him on the arm. “Good, then get out of here. I think she’s waiting for you.” He winked.

Harold raced around to the driver’s side of the car, but Anna was behind the wheel. She squeezed it firmly in her hands, shifting her thighs on his leather seat and tilted her head as she nibbled her bottom lip. He growled as lust flooded his bloodstream and his cock came back to life in seconds.

“You getting in or what?” she asked in a deeply seductive tone.

“Oh, I’m getting in all right,” he muttered and hurried around to the passenger side. “I’m going to bury myself right back inside you.”

She cursed and revved the engine, pulling away from the curb. The drive to his house wasn’t terribly long, but it was long enough to tease her. He snaked his hand across her thigh, and she gripped the wheel tighter, her chest heaving. As she drove through the city, his hand moved beneath the thin fabric of that shirt, cupping her breasts one after the other. Her eyes turned a dark slate-grey as she shifted in her seat.

“Harry,” she whispered in a warning, but he wasn’t about to stop. He was only getting started.

Grinning, his hand slipped down her stomach to her jeans. He unbuttoned them and worked at the zipper as she laughed, helping him by lifting her hips so he could squeeze his hand down to her soaking wet panties. His own pants bulged with his steadily swelling shaft. He pressed the heel of his hand against her clit while his fingers massaged her throbbing lips. He maneuvered his hand as she cursed under her breath, her foot pressing the pedal down so they zoomed through traffic.

“You’re going to get pulled over,” he warned her but not about to stop.

“It’s a good thing I have my lawyer with me then, isn’t it?” she shot back.

He smirked in agreement and shoved the panties aside so his fingers could penetrate her sheath. She ground out a noise between a curse and a moan as he searched in vain for her spot. His fingers delved deeper, sensing he was close as she rode his hand sluggishly, holding the steering wheel so tightly he was amazed it didn’t break apart in her hands.

His finger stretched a bit farther, and her hips bucked in the driver’s seat. Thankfully, she was pulling onto his street, but they barely made it into the driveway as she panted, throwing the car into park so she could let go of the wheel. She leaned over the console, kissing him fiercely, but he didn’t let up, driving her to come in the front seat of his Camaro. Her womanhood squeezed his fingers, and she throbbed in the palm of his hand as he continued to rub and caress her sex until he wrung the last shaking moan from her body.

“You…you are going to get it for that,” she warned, breathless as she fell back into the seat.

As she watched, he withdrew his hand from her jeans and licked his fingertips that had only moments ago been buried deep within her body. Her eyes narrowed and her lips parted. “I look forward to it.”

* * *

After the car, Anna desperately needed to hit the bathroom and Harold had to get his sister out of the house, so they could have the place to themselves. She was in his master bathroom, tearing her clothes from her body and grinning at the flush covering her from head to toe.

Having sex with Harold for the first time in the storeroom of the bar hadn’t been what she had imagined either, but he awoke desires hidden away for far too long. She was hungry for more, so much more, and only he could give it to her. She ran her hands down her naked body, then pulled her hair from its messy ponytail and shook the long strands out so they covered her shoulders and hid her nipples. Part of her longed to have those six months back with Harold so she could break through his walls faster and get to this moment of truly feeling who he was. The past few moments had been so intense, though, she wondered if leaving him had been the best thing for them both.

She cracked open the bathroom door, but he was still downstairs. She heard his voice followed by Jenny’s. Laughing quietly to herself, she bounded across the room and landed on his bed, laying herself out on her stomach so she faced the door. She crossed her ankles and waited for him to join her.

A door opened and closed downstairs and his heavy footsteps hurried to the second floor. Her heart raced as the door swung inward and his broad frame filled the space. He stepped in and glanced up, pausing mid-step when he spotted her lying on his bed. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard, and his arousal was clear through his trousers the longer he stared at her. She lifted up further so her chest was in full view, and his eyes flickered straight to it as he licked his lips. A grin filled with so many promises of what was to come stretched across his face.

“Has Jenny gone?” she asked lightly as he kicked out of his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt.

“She has. We have the entire place to ourselves,” he informed her.

Her eyes watched every movement his fingers made as he opened his shirt and threw it to the floor. When his fingers went to his belt, she sat up and rested on her knees. His hands faltered as he paused to take in the sight of her baring her whole front to him. Though he’d seen her in the storeroom, they were rushed. Now, he took his time, moving closer to the bed as he tugged his belt free and unzipped his trousers. Anna waited until he took a few more steps before she grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed with her. She laid him back against the pillows, kissing his lips and languidly moving on to his jaw. His hands roamed over her body, but she was in the mood for a little payback and slithered further down his body.

His trousers came off easily, followed quickly by his briefs. She ran her nails up his calves as her lips wound a path up his thigh and back down again, taunting him as he gripped the comforter in his fists. The hunger for her body poured off him in waves, but she had promised payback and would deliver.

Her sexual encounters were limited to one night with a boyfriend from her high school days, her drunken night with Johnny, and her romp with Harold that day. But she was by no means a girl with no knowledge of how to make a man squirm. Women had needs too. She had watched enough videos in her day to give her some ideas of how to make him breathless with pleasure.

Her hands glided up his legs, and she cupped him with her right as she gripped him with her left. He almost seemed to swell more at her touch, and she moved her hand up and down the length of him, stretching out each second she touched him. She wiggled further up between his legs, licking her lips as she ran her thumb around the silky, soft skin at his crown and ran her hand all the way down, pressing hard against him to find those hidden inches. He groaned and her sex throbbed with sudden want for him. But not yet.

“Anna,” he growled, reaching for her, but she shook her head and stayed out of reach.

As her hand worked his shaft, excitement erupted in her as she was finally able to imagine more than the next few hours with Harold. She saw the next week, the month, hell, she could see years down the road of being together and finding a way to make his childhood dream come true. He wanted to help people. All he needed was a swift kick in the ass to get him out from under his family’s thumb.

He reached for her again, but she went down on him and his hands fell limply to the bed. “Shit,” he muttered, sucking in a breath as his hips bucked.

Anna worked him into her mouth, sucking hard as she pulled back, her hands maintaining a firm hold on the rest of him. She licked the pulsing vein in the side of his burning hot cock, and she kissed the tip as if she were kissing his mouth. He thrashed beneath her as she drew more of him between her lips. Her sex cried silently for him when he propped himself up on his elbows so he could watch as she sucked him. Anna took her time, watching Harold fall apart at her touch and steadily lose control. His hips bucked again, so she moved her mouth faster.

Suddenly, he sat up and dragged her up his body. His lips cut off her protests, and he moved her legs so she straddled his lap. Her wet arousal rubbed against his shaft, and she moved her hips, drenching him. His hands cupped the back of her head, and with a little adjustment and guiding him with her hand, she sank onto him. He stretched her and thrust upwards so he was buried deep within her.

Anna threw her head back as he ravished her breasts, kissing them and sucking hard on her nipples as she rode him hard. His body rubbed against her clit with every movement, and she was soon lost in the clutches of their lust and longing, made to wait for far too many months together and apart. She may have succeeded in bringing down his walls, but Harold awoke the fighting spirit within her she feared she was so close to losing some days. He was her second chance, just as she was his. They would make this work, the two of them together at last.

Harold rolled them over without leaving her and kissed her with every raw emotion pouring out of him and into her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, needing him as close as she could get him. They moved as one being, their hearts melting together as the ecstasy grew and finally exploded. Anna cried out, long and loud as she clutched him inside her body. Her eyes rolled back as Harold thrust harder and faster before his groan turned into a bellow and he spilled into her, swelling to his full size. He held her to his chest and rolled to her side as he slipped free. His hand found hers, and he brought it to his lips as their bodies shook and shivered with the ripples of the powerful orgasm.

“Anna?” he whispered, gasping for breath.

“Harry?”

He turned his head to face her and ran his fingers softly down her cheek. “I should have told you then, but I didn’t, so I’m going to tell you every day for as long as we’re together. I love you, woman, you and whatever color your hair is,” he added with a sweet kiss on the tip of her nose.

Anna scooted as close as she could to him and kissed his chin, his cheeks, and finally, his lips. “I love you, too, Harry. I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t always loved you.”

They held each other, but the moment was interrupted by her stomach growling loudly. He burst out laughing and tickled her sides and stomach as she squealed with laughter. He pinned her to the bed and kissed a long line down her neck, nuzzling her breasts.

“Food, must have food,” he said though she felt he was telling himself that more than her. “Dinner?”

“And tequila. Don’t forget the tequila.”